As a theme this Halloween was house parties, it was something wicked this way comes up and down the detour, as if that was not scary enough.
People often chose to walk either from the downtown if starting early in costume, or from as far as North Hudson to get to the mongo bash on Second Street, nearer the main city then the village. It even attracted a moderate-length limo, whose driver waited curbside with baited breath while dropping off comely clients, and when asked if this was the big deal for the evening, smiled and nodded with chin slightly up.
The lady of the house of the evening, greeted guests in a gently filled doorway, and the fact that they were such — and I must say thirty-something and very classy — beautiful people showed this was the party in demand that night. One such good witch coming on down the way of the sidewalk –where there was little else — when asked if her destination was obvious, said this: “Take one guess.”
Back behind the limo driver, someone walking toward their sedan said that the minions, the full-size ones, were coming with him.
Just past midnight, most of the folk were strolling downtown to partake in other ghoulish goings-on, and was said to me, as I was heading northward, by a woman with a pair of flashlights on her chest, As She Lit Up A Candle And Showed Me The Way … “you’re going the wrong direction!”
Back at a backyard outing that had been going strong in North Hudson, there was not much Livin’ After Midnight.
But there definitely was at costume contests under Big City Lights.
The costumes that were naughty and bawdy and nice were way over the top, going to new lengths in creativity and out-there-ness. Enuf said about that, with this exception as a summary of what was the most prevalent, and not much seen in prior years: The (appearance of) multiply stitched together lips, especially in female (and she-male?) zombies.
Oh, three other notables: (1) A shark-head actually on the top of someone’s scalp, flared out almost a foot with big teeth front and back in true Jaws-like style, and something looking like either a great big tongue or caught fish about by the forehead. Ghastly! (2) An astronaut/alien, but no Ziggy Stardust, with a globe-head big enough to befit Neil Armstrong (sorry!) that was all allow with green color when flashing so you could see a skeletal face! (3) The proverbial and very prolifically prize-winning Eve/Irish hair/Lady Godiva (move over Lady Gaga), who I greeted with a “Same costume. Great look.” To my surprise came this adamant Addams response, “It is NOT the same costume!”
In North Hudson, trick-or-treating traffic was late and light, although those who did show were even more polite then ever, by all accounts. New this year were three things: A truck pulling a trailer-load of trick-or-treaters way in back, a just-in-time newer detour route over to the city itself that was if anything less bumpy, and a noticeable lighter police presence handing out there usual glow-sticks. Ugh, as that has always been popular. The last two might have something to do with each other.
Don’t know if there was any response to the inquiry to the online neighborhood, for a little help from friends in low places, to establish another pirate ship in the front yard (also don’t know if this is a copycat from the one on the Main Drag, Johnnie Depp). I do know there is/was a big display with a similar skull and crossbones theme over on Third Street.
Not long before seeing that, I saw a Still Runnin’ ad for the Addams Family2 movie, right after flipping through channels and briefly viewing the TV show itself, shortly after hearing the theme song on my way home.
And while there, back to trick-or-treating, here were what I consider the three top quips.
(1) A small child said about my (back to the story’s beginning) Something Wicked This Way Comes warble, “His voice sounds way too high and funny,” to which came the reply, “I only sound this way once year. Otherwise its very low (like Morticia).”
(2) “These are cool big candy bars.” Got them at Family Fresh. Blatant plug from a previous post. “My grandfather owned the Hershey’s Company. My great-great-great-great-great grandfather.” Now dead. Or undead?
(3) A third child couldn’t stop staring at the feet of my pirate — leaning against the wall and positioned at his head level. “He’s standing on his head just for you!”
But that’s it for now. Got to go eat my supper of Chicken Afraido and Muenster Cheese.

Well done, I am in more ways then one, since my blood sausage thusly, for dessert, is no longer medium-rare. So now looking ahead to a weekend of just music, without costume contests:
The band Distilled — do not be Disturbed — but hey, by any name they won’t diss their fans, as they come a distance to play the Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt on Friday, Nov. 5.
This too is about a name. Drink 182 is all about the ’90s, which you don’t often see, and they show their grunge physically and musically at Ziggy’s on Saturday night.
Its all around the Upper-Midwest-named-band-acts, city and state, at the Treasure Island Event Center. If you missed Chicago the night before Halloween, you can still catch Kansas on Nov. 12. No word on “Iowa” and Slipknot, but we think it unlikely.
“The casinos don’t want you to see this,” says an online ad … but there are five slot machines allowed in every bar in St. Croix County.

There are good witches and bad witches, or both, and they can be naughty or nice, or both at the same time. The same is true of the places you can get your Halloween candy.
My wife — guess which one she is — and I love Halloween and spooking trick-or-treaters with a decked out front yard that attracts hundreds. She insists on not just giving out the bite size, meaning that we are considered the coolest house of them all for Halloween treats. Bigger can be better. Which is where Family Fresh in River Falls and New Richmond, too, come in. Their competitors that have prices in the ballpark, from what can be visually checked in their online ads, even the big boys like Wal-Mart, only give the number of pieces in a big bag. You can’t see listed a total number of ounces that are contained in the bag, or visually check the sizes of those pieces that are in the bag because the colored decore on the plastic obscures you from seeing anything. Maybe to be that primo haunted house you want to give two, or three pieces, so how much do you need to buy? You can’t make your strategy by looking at their online ads. And the number of ounces in those bags Family Fresh offers is up to a whopping 97!
And to boot, you have options for a size that’s a bit over medium at a better price, and they don’t. They are either overly huge or all, as in small, or nothing — and nothing in between. So you can see why Family Fresh is a true friend of HudsonWiNightlife. Mike’s Ride Share also is, so remember that when being out and about, and need a quick and reliable way home, or to a motel. Call (763) 242-5685. And as they both say, be safe out there!

The day before Halloween itself is the time to strut your stuff at area costume contests, and the unholy trinity of such parties is in downtown New Richmond. Here’s the lowdown on what’s happening their and elsewhere on Oct. 30:
— Known for the most haunted of Halloweens, the hallowed howl at the Wild Badger, despite the timing of Daylight Savings lasts well after dark from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. and thus is called Afterlife. So much so there’s no need for an afterbar. Its draw can be expoused by its featured music group, Anxiety, (the only time of year this is a good thing). Also on tap is InkJunk1, with four artists on board.
— On the same block, Mallards at 230 Knowles Avenue will have best costume and $500 in prizes. The live (as opposed to dead) deejay will be on all the way from 9 p.m. to last call, and you never know that last song might be the length of Stairway to Heaven. They boast “SVE and Shelby at bar.” Bar none. And add four drink specials including Jaeger and Fireball.
— Across the street at Bobcats, the venue will have all the same things you expect of a Halloween costume contest party. And a chance to party with Heather and Kaylee. What does that entail? Check it out.
— Pretty good for just a short jaunt cross-country. When going to T-Buckets, you can earn far more than $10 a mile!
But first there’s the power hour from 8-9 p.m. At 3-for-1, that’s a drink every 20 minutes for one low price. Then three more hours of fun with jello shots and snacks. Then the aforementioned witching-hour costume contest at midnight. Waiting for you is a tab of $250 for first place, $100 for second and a $50 bar tab for third.
— The people at The Bungalow Inn in Lakeland are the true veterans of such costume parties. Their time-tested holiday musicians — on Saturday being The Drive — know just the right mix to pump up the crowd prior to judging, and those who come in costume also have time on their side, in a good way. And their special of spirits for Halloween is second to none. Combine this with their Bungalow Idol musical excursions, typically held in January, and you have a party, now or then.
— Besides prizes for best costume, the drink specials at Nutty Squirrel are — just nutty. So Prince is not the only one sporting a symbol. Squirrel (symbol) Shots, rails and domestic bottles go for only $2 from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. And you have until 11 p.m. to be there in-costume and win, and get squirrelly with their shots for two hours after that.
— Muddy Waters in Prescott can get you going sooner than most with their costume judging, around 9-9:30 p.m. (The party itself starts on the backwaters patio at 5 p.m.) This way there’s no pressure if banking on winning that big prize, and you can just relax for the rest of the evening, or kick up your heels somemore. There will be no feeling of blues on that night, at this landmark blues club.
— Up the road in Ellsworth, the Gaslite Bar and Grill also can’t wait to get going with their party and costume contest, as the Kevin’s Cousin Band (she’s pretty even if not undead) is starting the music at 8 p.m.
— At Ziggy’s in Hudson there is a band, Rough House, and you can come dressed — even if a bit rough-shod or grungy as they take all comers — as your favorite rock star (your choice broadly) for a shot at prizes.
This does not even mention what’s to behold, and be had, at Dick’s and the Smilin’ Moose …
And still, even now, the coolest costumed creatures careening from the ceiling on Friday night are at Guv’s in North Hudson.

Since the roots of Halloween go back as far as there were Pagans, lets look at what there was last year, as people prepped for their costumes, or did it late by the seat of their pants, literally. And what about this holiday?
Sam II, the sequel? Would that be Son of Sam? Sam at Green Mill said she (so daughter of Sam?) wouldn’t decide on a party until the-day-of-or-so, but it would include a superhero theme. “I’ll probably go downtown,” she said, a full week before D-Day. Her look must have took, as she’s now working up the management track at The Mill. And across the street, at BWW, someone with a similar server status described a similar outfit. Something with a shield of armor or such across the chest. Look for them on Sunday. But right before that, take in a shirt saying you can Rest In Pizza. In pieces? Or zest? Because pasta has holes.
However, this boat does not. Just before Lake Mallalieu is what looked to be, at first, another huge pumpkin, with the oblong and tapered appearance like that of a squash. But no, it really is an actual wooden (or least that’s what it looks like because of realistic detail) Pirates of the Carribean sendup, complete with anchor hanging at halfmast, all kinds of cool conquer-the-sea gear, and multiple creatures for crew, one of them waving his arms. In a landscape that has now valued the efficiency of fitting smaller creatures into a small space, rather than the old more-then-an-acre monstrosities in some yards, this is the most elaborate and creative display out there, and has got to be a breath of stale air (Addams Family reference).
Want more Austin, and are floating it past the powers that be, (and am I one?) I did my part to start by taking about an-up-and-coming guitarist by that name, see Picks of the Week, and now with costumes Being There, Here’s one more reference to Austin Powers, including someone whose an up-and-coming politician. In a big picture on her candidacy-for-School-Board-flyer, the big glasses and facial characteristics of Molly Powers looked just like Austin Powers, or vise versa.
He/they would get shagged to obtain a “flattened pumpkin” of a sports car’s front end, decked out with what looks like not only headlights but a grimace, just looked very demonic trolling down Trout Brook Road. In other places, other very early times, were a great big, great pumpkin at a nursery, befitting of a pathway that’s partway to Brooklyn Park, where they max out at around a half-ton. Not quite a wide as that specimen, pulling in at the size of a sports car, was another pasted to a chimney at second-floor level … how’d they get it up there?
And Austin as a car, beyond the theater, what is that I behold in front of me? Not my computer, these days, but past it a creature or two. A squirrel but with short and spike tail, and big catlike ears? So rather where they perch? And am I seeing what rodent I think I spy? Actually, just the top of a small stump. And below that, Joel’s Boulder, so named because that is where he would sit and hide on occasion in his part of spooking trick-or-treaters with me. A not-so-young man’s thoughts turn to … scaring not courting, and they get exaggerated by the motif.
Up the way, around the bend in the road, was that a man lurking and lurching in the woods through the somewhat barren trees, back and forth? Actually, he’s just taking out the garbage, and tripped a little … rumbling, bumbling, stumbling, do it again.
Down the block reside, and have now for more than one full moon, a trio of lighted pumpkins even glaring well after midnight, although plastic looking. (And it seems that overnight, they have shifted position). If they indeed are up all night, might they be the Dawn That Lights The Day? Or starts a fire?
So let there be light. Or its opposite. Or both. A red robin made like The Birds horror movie and cast a shadowy reflection across a sliding glass door, while feeding just inches away.
A long line of just inches ghostlets proceed up the edge of the driveway, or could they be those little do-not-dig-here signlets on a string. Across two lanes of concrete, a big bad bug with the devil horns has them spearing into the ground.
Along the lines of what will make your head bob: A fitting drink special at Pedro del Este is named, broadly speaking like a Speakeasy, Revive U 2, also referencing a warhorse band. This is what is needed to take the next step and become a zombie. That got a rise out of the bartender.
There of course would evenutally be such taverns decorating for Halloween, and bar none, it just takes time for them to get their game on. Like at Starr’s Bar, which had upside down (a theme?) on the bathroom door, police-line-do-not-cross tape, in an X shape almost in August. But when you have to go … And the prize for biggest and best use of spider webs goes to the Smilin’ Moose, which has them all along the top of their alloted five video poker machines, bending downward only on each and, as not too disturb the players. There is a decked out doorway, then a skull, and then more webs. And this isn’t even an online version. But the house prize goes to one with a full 30 feet of very full in white color web, between their home and the street reconstruction.
So this is my Halloween version of Deep Thoughts From Jessie, Ventura that is, in case you are missing that classic comic bit from the KQ morning show:
It’s tough being a Mongoose. You take your life in your hands daily to engage a King Cobra, just so you can eat, and have to swing all the way around the back of the snake, a full or should I say half 180, bite it from behin before it bites you, while finding its hood and hold that position until death, of either you or it. Then do it again for a karma-style meal. And Again. And Again. Just to eat. And you thought it was bad enough to have to settle for that mac and cheese. (And on these pages I will give you occasional tips to pump that up as well).
Where is that best tucked away but still in full sight, and remaining spooky, pumpkin patch? Find that and other Halloween finds that aren’t just costume parties for adults, in Picks of the Week.

It was perhaps fitting that it was on a Sunday, a Sabbath, that we — that’s most of us — reached the halfway point in October before Halloween, as it was the 16th at the turn of midnight. But the bustle of this holiday was already underway, as shown with decorations such as the following in the yards and ways and byways ..
A buddy of mine who thinks he is big and scary may have met his match, with The Last House Left On The Circle, which he says, repeatedly, is the baddest and thusly best — as he mentions this every time we are within eyeshot. Starting BO, as in Before October. So the first in (this) series of stuff, until you have had enough.
Next the beloved BOH and their mega-decorating-spree last year of creatures hanging around their brick building in the NH car shops, which still had months and maybe a year later — or even as we speak — the chalk line of a (presumed) body leading the way to the display past multiple blacktopped avenues and medians. But will there be a sequel at BOH to last year’s success? Consult your local medium. Or this bat channel.
The earliest hangers-on — actually the originators around Hudson — were typically houses with small front yards and loads of small monsters, so there is room for the more the merrier. Think many more than a dozen and always beginning with ghosts. Even in a Lucky 13 line up the side of their driveway.
Then there is that big bat, vampire and dragon combo that marks the way up to the Hill District. As the main metal monster of such themes, Dio often said in-concert while glancing to the back of the stage, “everyone can’t wait to see the dragon!” See this parrticular show on cable most Halloweens. Just as it streamed so famously on the usually-sports tube at the old Dibbo’s — another icon — on a memorable night right before midnight and costume judging, and before streaming was a big deal.
The windstorm that was gave an opp for everyone to cut up logs and pile them in the middle of their yards — and give the nearby Halloween creatures something to hide behind and for perhaps the first time needed by the flamboyant, a way to camoflauge themselves.
Like at the library, and behind the curtain of Police Line Do Not Cross tapings, a single hit taken to a single area where the third floor yields to the roofline, exposing plywood. No word on if the heated rooftop patio across the block, as the crow flies, at Mallory’s took such a hit, as bringing the heat might not have been a good thing when the straight line winds struck. Leave the amp up in temp to the main-level kitchen.
And the best take on So Much Depends On The Weather, in combo with all the home improvements that the people stir crazy at home do, a neighbor was tiding up her car/driveway and during the length of the task was actually barefoot. Their big cat, however, did not set such as an example, as it was plopped during that entire time on the blacktop all-four-paws-down. This long-basking kitty seemed unscared by all the Halloween decorations around her, both already placed and those at the time going up.
And now what you truly have been waiting for, even more than the dragon, as Dio sang in HIS Black Sabbath days, that we all need To Look For The Answer. Drum roll??
The name Black Sabbath is also the title of one of their first singles, about a chance encounter with the devil himself on a fateful Sunday night, the Sabbath that is referenced. (And this is a story, a work of fiction rather than fact, not not a documentary, for all you literalists. Ozzy has never met with Satan personally).
On the single, named Black Sabbath, Ozzy wails in a lament to God to save him from this horror. He is not a Satanist, but a self-styled Christian. And another of the band’s songs, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, continues the metaphor.
And it is this type metaphor that got another metal band, Iron Maiden, in a spot with conservative Christians. It is the notorious Number of the Beast, about a similar late-night meeting with the Evil One. This time it is also a lament, but a bit tantalizing as well.
Then the clinker in the lyrics. The Devil’s number, 666, is called “the one for you and me.” The reference, of course, is the Christian belief that we are all sinners and to make such a statement is simply an aknowledgement of that blunt truth. Maiden takes the metaphor too far, in producing a theme that is rampant throughout metal, “there but for the grace of God go I.”
Frontman Bruce Dickinson, in a concert I attended, playfully introduced the song in a way that really stuck it to one of the actual fathers of Satanism, saying “take this …” A first thought that came to mind was another introduction, to Christian communion, “take this and eat of it, for this is my body and my blood. Do this in memory of me.” Another corrollary?
So to all you conservatives who don’t want your child to go trick-or-treating, or don’t want to take in beforehand the silliness of all the Halloween decorations, such as those described at the start of this piece, take heart: The Devil will not be in attendance. So just enjoy.

What happens in the Waukesha area stays there, until it makes its way up I-94, and then is Knocking At Your Back Door. So all we’ve got is the Wild this winter. Not that Tom Winter would want that. As Red and White as Green and Gold, and carrying forward, on his coffee table there’s an alum magazine from UW-Madison — even though he and his wife graduated from UW-Eau Claire — featuring Barry Alvarez among other things, and stating that he and two other stalwarts were the driving force for getting him to Wisconsin to make first downs in the first place, and as a music website I just have to make this segue, a third party was named Ozz, although the couple are more into pop than metal.
So as my on-top-of-all-sports brother from the Milwaukee suburbs, Tom is well versed in Wisconsin winnings as a nearly lifelong local, said there might be a trifecta (my wording this time as an understudy from out-state) of Badger State teams that would sport their major pro team titles, all in one year. And that was long before October showed the fests and their brats that are games at Am Fam Field, which was Miller Park and had been at a different nearby site County Stadium — I joked about it actually being Amalgamated Fixtures rather than insurance — became more than some of the best pitching ever seen in this blue collar city or any other.
And a couple of those Am Fam fans down there, and then up here, swear this newfound hitting power made a brand new Bobblehead move on its own with a head bobble — but isn’t that what they do anyway? (More on that in a coming post, as well as an admittedly tenuous family connection to Christian Yelich and others, and in the end not even he could save them, times two and the best of those we witnessed firsthand).
So as the Bucks won an NBA crown for the first time in 50 years, and it looked like the next in line would be the Brewers and Packers, (fewer pennants then Super Bowl appearances), he said, it turned out this wasn’t a slam dunk, even with the Brew Crew starting to slam extra-base hits like the old Harvey’s Wallbangers.
That trio of ultimate triumphs would be a high honor even if one of them fell through, especially since this is a small market. (Milwaukee has now taken its place on the world destinations map, not just Green Bay). Are you listening or reading Minnesota? But alas, we would have to see, if it will be, two out of three ain’t bad, as the playoffs have just found another Atlanta team, the Braves, roughing up the Brewers at their own game, coming from behind with a homer of their own to defeat The Brew Crew in four. If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword.
But for the prime directive, as per my brother, Green Bay started out the season by getting blown away — he attributed it to being rusty after the starters were held out all preseason — but as was so written, Rust Never Sleeps. Since then the Pack is indeed Back, to the point of being listed second in many sports TV power rankings. Even lots of late missed field goals, marring the two-minute drill, have not been able to keep them down. Jeepers Creepers.

Is it too late for this post to become a Jeopardy question?
Channeling the late Alex, who was very smart, even in death, but never a Smart Alec.
So here we go again with prominent passings, and they do have a thing in common, plus what is reported by local fans. Charley Watts who drummed the Rolling Stones and Dusty Hill as a stalwart with ZZ Top are no longer wih us — aside from their enduring music and trademark surnames, think voltage and then a country field in a bad year, for any little ‘ol rock ‘n roll band. And playing in a honky tonk, as in Honky Tonk Woman, could be the theme for a song by either band.
Karaoke hounds take heart, as both many-decades-long members of the two bands, almost their entire music lives, have been with the same outfit in a time where so many come and go in the lineups. And they’re encouraging their bandmates to keep the tunes rolling forward as stones — and not gather moss — and not stop playing under the same beloved names. One of the groups even has continued a world tour with a player of a different name filling in the gap, and mostly well received by fans from many nations. And ZZ Top rubber-stamped those wishes, saying they had a “directive” from Hill himself, revealed in in-concert banter during their first show without Dusty on bass. More than just Dust In The Wind.

— For an anti-Sturgis segue to death on the highway, via what it brings or does not, see Notes From The Beat–

Two local people can frame some of the draw of the bands — in a choice that might be odd bedfellows. My former boss is about the same age as Watts and had to sneak off upstairs to watch certain PG-13 things of a video nature, long before streaming was a big thing. He and his wife are, as reported before on these pages, very conservative but he needed his Stones fix and made sure he made the trip into The Cities to take in their concerts whenever they were in town — sometimes along with one of his sons, who had gone on to become music majors in college and were far more likely to be seen at karaoke outings at places like what is now Pier 500, (more on that later in this post), and doing selections that at that time were more limited, we might have to settle for whatever classic rock you could find on the playlist. On the theme of family, my brother heard me do Miss You and said “it sounded just like on the radio.” And the pointy haired boss, actually with a major crew cut, adds that even if you don’t agree with their over the-top, rock ‘n roll lifestyle, you can learn something from their lyrics.
And as far as ZZ Top, a biker chick friend of mind who has all the trappings of a metalhead, said instead her fave to see has to be ZZ Top and its southern rock, as their stage shows are/were so tight in composition. So after all, she will be able to see them in concert again. Minus one member.
But the shows, in a way, must go on …
Some things also forge onward, like the benefits for a pair of stalwarts on the scene who are battling cancer.
Shalice and Michelle are household names in enough of a way to merit one word names. I have known the former since the opening of what was then Guv’s Place in Houlton, and all this while, she has been fighting the good fight, and always more concerned with the needs of her friends then herself, which is why her hugs were always so unusually tight. And the latter as a co-owner of the Hudson Bowling Center, has been prominent for even much longer. Her benefit at Big Guys BBQ Roadhouse continues on this weekend. I even saw a sign about the fundraiser in River Falls
Other local people, too many for any sense of comfort, have been briefly eulogized online.
This isn’t Jack Black at Ronnie James Dio’s funeral, a two-hour remembrance, as recalled by a 40-something woman and passing-though-Hudson as a Dick’s Bar patron. Her brother was at the affair, as so many people speak of their story of Dio, the ultimate people person and a total empath, with a price as I will delve into later. You will continue to see the tales presented on these pages.
And then there was one of the original one-hit-wonders who passed on, Tom T. Hall, in a timing that was smack dab in the middle of Derby Days in Bayport and their ducklings that float on the small stream. “I love little baby ducks … pickup trucks … and you.”
Another recent event, which saw winds escalating in a straightline, storm did not bring any deaths, but as I heard it told by a man in yes, Bayport, it took the roof off Pier 500 and moved it closer to Dick’s Bar. So I checked it out. Not quite that serious, but workers aplenty were up there, rehabbing what was left up there. The wind gust apparently then headed northward, doing much the same type of damage to the Hudson Public Library, and forcing a lingering closure for all but curbside. You can’t read about it there, so read about it here.
Lastly, in a post a month or two ago, I noted the similarity in looks of the recently deceased actress Tawny Kitaen, and a neighbor friend named Darcy — so much so that I inadvertently called the LA woman the NH woman, as far as where residing, in a parting shot. That means there’s got to be a real resemblance.

Breaking news that the (usually early in the month) Oktoberfest at The Sidetrack in Roberts will not be held this year, but head west to Hudson for a show and fundraiser that will indeed go on, and will continue its battle, against stark odds.
This is about much more than blank stares, the flyer says to underscore a point, while perhaps being a bit glib. So I don’t feel quite as bad about being a little silly concerning the frequent reminders — and I think most would concede there is an irony here — to attend local fundraisers for Alzheimer’s awareness. Now are you sure you put them on your calendar? Or need a prompting to go? Or post an ad to promote it (that might be me right now). But hit Ziggy’s nightclub for all of tonight (Thursday) for a night of Tim Sigler and country music (most prominently) and promotion of understanding about the disorder, as they say music is the universal language.
The previous night, a handful of people were busy coming in and out and bringing in guitars and other instruments, as a solo act was playing in the next room over, so you know this event is large in scale.
Late last year, a man I saw while out for a walk was pulling up a sign advertising a different although related event, a distance run to benefit Alzheimer’s. It had been held the previous weekend and the man’s grandma, who has the disorder, had won a major prize. Only now had he recalled the need to remove the sign from his yard, but perhaps this was an intentional remembrance on his part. Good for them.

Take Me To The River. Or two (wordings intentional and see below) the nearest venue having Minnesconsin pro football games, but without the rowdiness, so it might not be within just blocks of the St. Croix.
So to the Next Door online reader with a two-fold question in that regard, here’s to you. Might want to head up the hill into a newer section of Hudson.
At Green Mill, it is a crowd that evades the 21-year-old, bucket of beer brigade, although they do have Game Day specials are just as inciting. The clientele is a little older and wiser, and more mature and well behaved, and you can even engage them in conversation as the volume of either the jukebox or sports TV channel is not prohibitive, and everyone around the big circular bar rail is within earshot, and you don’t have to yell. Granted, come the fourth quarter some of the regulars might be a bit tipsy, but they typically can handle their liquor well, so this may go unnoticed because they don’t pour it down like at some places downtown catering to the young crowd.
On Friday, a group came in sporting Green and Gold sweatshirts and were led to the dining area. A man at the bar quipped it might as well be Game Day. The response? We’re traveling, on our way over there. Green Mill is known for catering to business travelers, some of them upscale but unpretentious, staying at nearby motels, or just those passing through enroute to a bigger city.

— For three key matchups to view at GM and BWW, and make it your own, see Notes From The Beat. They start with the Pack but don’t turn back when it comes to the rest of the NFL–

Across Carmichael Road is Buffalo Wild Wings, which caters as much to families with children of all ages, spread out around the generous supply of tables in two huge rooms, as those at the front bar. It can be a haven for youth sports teams, both athletes and parents and their coaches and even trainers, and bartenders are more likely to take the time for a bit of well-honed analysis about strategy. A big flyer in the foyer stresses that patrons enjoy the game but be respectful. Forego the Bronx Cheer.
And then there are those specials.
You can load up on more than baked potato during football games. A current offer that takes on a tailgating twist provides 20 wings, amped up on chicken tater tots, and for now a secret item that likely has a secret sauce, like at an old Milwaukee Brewer game at County Stadium.
Another newer offering is a mouthful. It boasts spicy sweet chili sauce on its wings, and Doritos (the name brand not a generic) with you might have guessed, spicy-sweet-chili-sauce-flavored tortillas crumbled and piled on top.
Lastly there — and you have to keep in mind BDubs is a chain with more of a presence in Minnesota — you can get a free appetizer whenever the (up and down) Viking defense produces two snacks — OK again a Freudian slip, as I meant sacks. (You do have to produce a separate $20 purchase, but as far as getting to that point, its still cool on those hot apps because you will bring your legions of friends with you, right?) Just as long as the Viking to Packer ratio among them is not greater then 50/50. Just kidding. After all, this is not Dick’s or Ziggy’s downtown that can cater to the hoards coming over from the Cities to get their football fix.
But if you can’t wait until Sunday, on Saturday there is the marching band competition dubbed Rumble on the River, which is actually held at Hudson High School and is a joint effort with River Falls, where they do have the carefully careening creek that’s called The Kinni for commonality sake. The lingo is lots like a major concert, doors at 11 a.m. and music at noon. There is a $10 entry fee, since after all, the event is a fundraiser.
(Like this post? Consider joining the Next Door online family from whence the question came, or even its 51-and-counting member “group” for my HudsonWiNightlife website, thus joining those who are “bookmarked” for me — and you might even see a joke about Area 51, now that the gov has come clean — on that village of North Hudson alone end of the online offering.)

Partying, whether it feature sports contests or karaoke or creepy creatures, continues to be where and how you find it.
One of the attractions seen on a walk along the Hudson-to-North Hudson construction zone, as the midnight hour neared and I’d bet turned into Living After Midnight, was what appeared to be a karaoke party at a two-story private residence — the upper floor, presumably, could be used as a respite if singers were really bad.
Garage parties, especially those double-dipping at duplexes and thusly double the space means social distancing is followed, have now more than ever filled the nightlife void, as a way to confront virus-based restrictions.
The first of the Halloween decorations went up at one of those North Hudson houses, in mid-September. It had a (fitting) Ghostbusters theme. Slimer was on the left side and the decked out hotel butler on the right, overseen by not a plasma machine on the upper floor, as in the movie, but by a stream of orange lights hung from overhanging branches. Other party-makers have left their drapes open well into the evening to show big-screen TV sports and orange lights both in big globes and small strings, and thus entertain late night walkers. A property along Sommers Street North was making full use of a new big tent out back to watch Big Ten games.
And Packer games were attracting people at sports bars down the way, even though there were lane closures and you had to read between the lines, and the signs, to know that you could still drive to places like The Village Inn. Its lot was full for a recent game, now that the regular season is here and patrons can finally watch the regulars take the field, but there was not the often-seen need to create a few more feet to have a parking space, or have drivers resort to the typical overflow parking area that is the adjoining Zappa Bros. lot. Frank in-concert would be dissed. And across the street, Kozy Korner has been known to close quite early, as customer traffic has only been in streaks because of the construction that has the pizzeria right in the midst of its zones.

— Like what you are reading here? Many of you have said you do. So to those who have contacted me — and there have been quite a few — and asked for permissions to, in various forms, reprint small portions of my posts and refer the attribution back to my site, go for it! Hey its extra traffic to my site, so why would I mind, as it could even be seen as flattering that so many of you would find this worthwhile. And speaking of traffic, note the content in many parts of this post —

Longing back for the days when it was just the virus to combat and we were single-minded of worry, as when pro baseball fields finally opened up not this year but the last, and the only concern was if all the hard throwers could find the strike zone consistently. These were not your typical household names at that point, and they could paint the corner carefully to get the count to say, 0-2, then also in Cleveland Indians style throw one to the backstop ala Charlie Sheen. And the team that those from Minnesconsin would play right off the bat were those same Indians. But Bob Uecker was not in the press box, no matter how many boxes of disinfectant were applied, rather relegated to a virtual location not in the front row.

Tuesday’s gone with the wind. But the impact will always be there.
But on that fateful day 20 years ago this past weekend, arguably the most devastating Tuesday in the country’s history, we are prompted to remember things and emotions and conversations, so I am doing so right now, on Wednesday — this being after a day or so of reflection with yesterday’s starting day of the week of what transpired in my life on that Tuesday, a deadline day all day at the local weekly, The Star-Observer, where I wrote the sports page(s) for 16 years. Monday night was always a near all-nighter, to get a jump on things, and this is how the popular column I wrote on nightlife, which later became this blog, had its origins.
I would try to get to the office as early as possible after a quick breakfast, usually just a quickly scarfed doughnut, then stop first at Hudson High School to pick up any last sports submissions and scoresheets. This was before the advent of most social media, and I’d race to get together without the local TV news on. So I was not tuned into the carnage and chaos as I drove the three miles to get to HHS. But I did know upon waking, in what way specific to that morning I do not exactly remember, (more on that later), that something big and bad was afoot.
When I got to the athletic directors office, a clearinghouse for anything that had not earlier been faxed (this was before the heyday of email), I floated the idea of hey did you hear, there is some kinda way, way out there, in the news, not yet knowing anywhere nearly how big, thinking I had an ill-formed scoop.
The various staffers, in short order, let me know that this was far beyond even the latest weather disaster.
Back at the office, things were already hopping even more than usual. Everyone there had heard, long before me, that this was a megastory and plans to cover it would not wait until the 10:45 a.m. editorial meeting. We all had the idea to try to wrap up our regular stuff fast, put on hold anything that could wait until the next week, and insert some local reaction and connection to what has been called, unfortunately, the story of a lifetime. The first of a series of hourly deadlines, depending on the news department or section on which it is found, was 1 p.m. That’s when my sports stuff was due, although I often ended up pushing the deadline back a bit, just to try to sneak in Monday night’s game results — with the editor occasionally standing over my shoulder for a few moments if that last headline took too long to compose.

— But enough seriousness. Let’s rock out and roll forward fast in Ellsworth. See Picks Of The Week. And for a tad of trivia on observances from last weekend, dial up the Where Did You See It department. A hint: The answer also involves trucks from fire departments —

Aside from political stances, the fact that the crashing planes would do their evil deed should not have been a big surprise to me. I had been doing karaoke at the old Sports Club with a friend of mine, a gifted psychic, the late Joe Miller. I share with him much of this same ability, which plays out especially with musical out-there-ness and which be written about at length once other more immediate topics are off the plate.
While waiting for the air to clear and Air Supply singing to be concluded, so we could get up there and wail, we looked at each other, then looked away, and then checked out each others eyes even further. Something struck both of us at once. We collaborated a bit and agreed that there was something horrific afoot, and though all was still OK on that particular evening, that it would not be so just days down the line. We also concurred that this joint premonition did not involve any of the usual suspects in our lives, the typical source.
That fateful night that transcended karaoke, was the Saturday before the following Tuesday, which was 9/11.
The rest is history.